WHAT price would you pay for an Oaks winner? In the case of Lady Bamford, owner and breeder of Soul Sister, it was a case of a couple of million pounds.

Lady Bamford established Daylesford Stud in 2000, and in the two decades since it has produced three classic winners, Star Of Seville, Sariska and Soul Sister. Sariska was the first when she won the Oaks at Epsom in 2009, followed six years later by Star Of Seville, triumphant in the Prix de Diane-French Oaks.

Sariska (Pivotal) is out of Maycocks Bay (Muhtarram), and the latter was raced by Lady Bamford after her purchase as a yearling for 32,000gns. Hugo Lascelles, closely involved with Daylesford, purchased the Lodge Park Stud-bred Stage Presence (Selkirk) for 475,000gns, and she was a very successful broodmare, Star Of Seville (Duke Of Marmalade) being one of her star performers.

In the case of the recent Group 1 Oaks winner, Soul Sister, the stakes were much higher. Again, Hugo Lascelles was involved, spending 2,700,000gns to buy her dam Dream Peace at the Tattersalls December Sale a decade ago. The daughter of Dansili (Danehill) was sold as a mare out of training, having started her racing career in France and ending it in the USA.

In France she won the Group 2 Prix de la Nonette, one of four successes she had there, but she failed to win a race in America or Canada, despite placing a number of times at Grade 1 level. She was twice runner-up in the Diana Stakes at Saratoga, and twice placed in the E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine. The latter race was won by Dream Peace’s dam when it carried Grade 2 status.

Looked promising

Dream Peace was purchased with the intention of sending her to Frankel, then about to embark on his second year at stud. The resulting colt, however, was never named.

Her first produce to be named was Questionare (Galileo), and he looked promising when winning on his debut at three, finishing second on his next two starts, beaten a head and a neck, before disappointing in a handicap at Ascot.

He was gelded a week later and sold for 9,000gns to Luke Comer. He raced 15 times for Comer, and placed once, beaten two lengths by Sonnyboyliston in the Listed Martin Molony Stakes at Limerick.

Herman Hesse (Frankel) was next, and he won twice in England before heading to Australia following his 75,000gns sale. He has won three times down under, and been placed a few times at listed and Group 3 level.

Guru (Kingman) followed, and he also won twice in England, while this year his single win and a few placings in Hong Kong have brought with them winnings of £325,000.

Frankel (Galileo) is responsible for the next two winners, and they are the first two stakes winners for Dream Peace. The four-year-old Dreamflight was sent by Lady Bamford to be trained by André Fabre, and the first of his two wins was gained in the Group 3 Prix Thomas Bryon, while last year he started off the year with a listed success, also at Saint-Cloud. While displaying consistency at listed and Group 3 level, he sold for €250,000 at Arqana’s Arc Sale and is now racing in Australia.

Another level

Soul Sister has taken the immediate family to another level, and her classic triumph came after she won the Group 3 Musidora Stakes at York.

Her record now reads three wins in four starts, and she is already a highly-prized broodmare prospect in due course at Daylesford. She is sure to be joined by other siblings on the winners’ roster, as Dream Peace has a two-year-old colt and a filly foal, both by Sea The Stars (Cape Cross), and a yearling filly by Le Havre (Noverre).

After this summation of the first dam of Soul Sister, who by the way is the 29th Group 1 winner for Frankel, it is almost enough to just say that her fourth dam was the 1981 Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Arctique Royale (Royal And Regal). The previous year she won the then Group 2 Moyglare Stud Stakes.

For now, let me simly add that three of Arctique Royale’s nine winners won a group race (two were placed in Group 1 races), and she is the ancestress of Group 1 winners and placed horses such as Aljamaaheer (Dubawi), Prix Saint-Alary heroine Cerulean Sky (Darshaan), Australian Oaks winner Colette (Hallowed Crown), L’Ancresse (Darshaan), Master Of Reality (Frankel), Irish Oaks winner Moonstone (Dalakhani), Platinum Jubilee Stakes winner Naval Crown (Dubawi), US Army Ranger (Galileo), and Hong Kong’s champion sprinter Wellington (All Too Hard).

Stars align for Lloyd Webber’s Emily

FIVE wins in three seasons and a runner-up place in the Group 1 Oaks last year, from only seven starts, is the hugely commendable race record to date for Emily UpJohn. On her 2023 seasonal debut, she added the Group 1 Coronation Cup to last season’s victory in the Group 1 British Champions Fillies/Mares Stakes at Ascot.

With winnings just short of £750,000, and much to look forward to for the remainder of the season, she is an incredible purchase by Blandford Bloodstock for just 60,000gns, a fraction of her sire’s fee. She was bred in partnership by Lordship Stud and the Tsui family’s Sunderland Holding.

Emily Upjohn is a daughter of Sea The Stars (Cape Cross), and one of his 19 Group 1 winners. She joins an illustrious group, which includes Baaeed, Stradivarius, Taghrooda, Harzand, Star Catcher and Sea The Moon.

Indeed, Harzand appears in the immediate family of Emily Upjohn as they are out of half-sisters. Sold to continue his stud career this year at Kilbarry Lodge Stud, Harzand is one of four stakes winners out of the Group 3 Athasi Stakes winner Hazariya (Xaar) who sold for 2,000,000gns in 2016, two years after realising €480,000 at Goffs. What a difference breeding a dual Derby winner made.

Another classic winner appeared in the family in 2021, with the emergence of Hurricane Lane (Frankel). Placed at Epsom and later in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, he annexed both the Group 1 Irish Derby and the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster, while also being successful in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris.

It was a case of so near and yet so far for another family member last weekend when Big Rock (Rock Of Gibraltar) was runner-up in the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby. His grandam, Harasiya (Pivotal) was a Group 3 winner, placed in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes, and she is a half-sister to Harzand.

Emily Upjohn is by far the best of the three winners from Hidden Brief (Barathea). Purchased by Lordship Stud for 280,000gns as a yearling, Hidden Brief was bred by Robert Russell from Hazaradjat (Darshaan), a mare he bought for €33,000 as a 13-year-old from the Aga Khan. Annually the Aga Khan Studs sell a number of mares and fillies, and there are always gems to be found among their culls.

Star mares

Raced by Lordship Stud, Hidden Brief was trained by Michael Jarvis and was placed in a listed race in France. In 2019 Hidden Brief was sold on, the same year that Emily Upjohn was born, for just 16,000gns to Gaelic Bloodstock. She is now one of the star mares at Ronnie and Elaine Boland’s Piercetown Stud in Kilcock, where she is safely in foal to Sea The Stars.

After the disappointment of losing the foal Hidden Brief was carrying at the time of her purchase, Ronnie and Elaine have two of her offspring. The two-year-old filly Hidden Jewel (Cappella Sansevero) will race in their colours for Ger Lyons later this year, and enjoying our spell of good weather is a filly foal from the first crop sired by Starman (Dutch Art), Tally-Ho Stud’s Group 1 July Cup winner.